Two major master vendors, Matrix Management Services, one of the UKís longest established vendor managers, and SkyBlue Solutions, part of Carillion PLC, have required their suppliers to become diversity assured.
Both have written to their preferred supplier list (PSL) members to warn they will be frozen out unless they achieve the Diversity Assured Accreditation.
Diversity Assured Recruitment, the accreditation launched by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and Birmingham Professional DiverCity, is the new standard for recruitment agencies to achieve best practice in the recruitment service industry.
The warning comes following public sector client wishes for all recruiters used by Matrix to be Diversity Assured - a mark of best diversity practice in recruitment.
Adam Herron, director of Matrix Management Services, said: ìConsequently all our public sector clients have decided to make Diversity Assured Recruitment a requirement for suppliers to be included in their PSLs as of August.î
ìWe originally wrote to all our members last July to make this intention clear and encouraged over 500 agencies to achieve the standard before the deadline,î he said.
As part of their own commitment to equality and diversity, SkyBlue Solutions are asking all partner suppliers to review their legal compliance with all relevant legislation and to be able to show evidence of their commitment to diversity and equality by using the REC Diversity Assured accreditation as the formal mechanism.
Richard Toy, Head of Operations at SkyBlue, said:
ìOur aim is to support our clients in their quest for successful recruitment and we fully recognise the importance of using only diversity assured suppliers.î
ìWe are fully committed to equality and diversity and would encourage other master vendors to take the same steps.î
Amin Ladha, Senior Diversity Advisor at London Borough of Ealing Council, said: Essentially diversity is at the core of the council's business as we want a workforce which represents, at every level, the community we serve and we expect partners working with us to share this vision.î
We are actively working to reach level five of the equality standard for local government and we can't achieve this unless we work with like-minded partners who share the same vision and drive - this is why we want to use suppliers who are diversity assured.
Matrix and SkyBlue PSL suppliers will be guided through the accreditation by Birmingham Professional DiverCity, a not-for-profit organisation committed to promoting diversity in the professional sector.
Jamie Davies, a consultant at Birmingham Professional DiverCity, said: ìVendor management companies need to work in conjunction with their clients and supplying agencies to ensure they are legally compliant and committed to equality and diversity.
ìMatrix Managed Services and SkyBlue Solutions are the first of many companies we are speaking with to tackle the issue of equality and diversity head on by requiring evidence of commitment in this way,î
ìDiversity Assured offers agencies the opportunity to be pro-active with their diversity management before it becomes a contractual requirement. There is still time for agencies to lead from the front,î he added.
Master Vendors Set Deadlines for Suppliers
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